A Missouri lawmaker who also leads an association of grocery stores is trying to stop cities and towns in the state from restricting the use of plastic bags, bucking a national trend toward banning their use to help the environment.

The U.S. government predicts that trains hauling crude oil or ethanol will derail an average of 10 times a year over the next two decades, causing more than $4 billion in damage and possibly killing hundreds of people if an accident happens in a densely populated part of the country.

The study, published in the journal Human Reproduction, found exposure to even low levels of diethylhexyl phthalate — a prominent plastic softener — during the first trimester of pregnancy could result in disrupted genital development in boys.

The lawsuit filed by the families in 2013 said that a suspected cancer-causing chemical came from the factory near where 35 children have been diagnosed with cancer and three have died since the mid-1990s.

The American Chemistry Council has asked federal regulators to extend the comment period for proposed restrictions on phthalates in children’s toys, arguing they would set an "irresponsible and scientifically unsound precedent" for future chemical regulations.